The book of Jonah opens with these words: “Now the word of Yahweh [that is, God] came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid its fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of Yahweh.” (Jonah 1:1-3)
But who was Jonah? The book of Jonah gives us very little biographical detail about him. Two possible reasons are: 1) God is not as concerned about who a person is, as about what kind of person he is. God didn’t give us the book of Jonah so we could have the biography of an amazingly talented man. Rather, He wants us to take a deep look inside ourselves through the lens of Jonah. 2) God wants to disclose Himself to us through His dealings with Jonah. We may find that we need to re-evaluate our concept of who God is and what He is like.
In the Bible, history is important only as it relates to the unfolding of the divine purpose in Jesus Christ. Therefore, the book of Jonah concentrates on attitudes. It assumes that the reader already knows who Jonah is and the political and historical background of the story. However, for those of us who are separated from the events of Jonah by some 2,800 years, a review of history will help us understand Jonah’s (and therefore our own) heart a little better.
Aside from the book of Jonah there is only one other mention of Jonah in the Old Testament. 2 Kings 14:23-25 says: “In the fifteenth year of Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah, Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel began to reign in Samaria for forty-one years. He did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh [that is, God]: he didn’t depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath Hepher.” From this brief passage we learn several very important things about Jonah:
1) He was a prophet – someone set apart and anointed to bring God’s message to others. It is quite possible that he was acquainted with the prophet Elisha and may even have been anointed by him. From comparing the geographical areas in which both Elisha and Jonah served, the kings under whom they served and their messages to those kings, it is possible that Jonah was Elisha’s spiritual successor.
2) He was from Gath-Hepher, a small town in Galilee about 2.5 miles from Nazareth where Jesus grew up.
3) He lived and ministered during the rule of a wicked king, that is Jeraboam the second.
4) He had influence at the national level. His voice was heard at court. His message had a bearing on major international policy.
In order to understand the book of Jonah it is important to remember that at Solomon’s death the kingdom of Israel was split. The southern-most two tribes, Benjamin and Judah, remained loyal to the house of David and their kingdom became known as Judah. The remaining ten tribes to the north formed their own kingdom under the leadership of Jeroboam which became known as Israel. Jonah lived and served in this northern kingdom.
The salient characteristics of Israel could be summarized as ungodliness, instability and violence. In an attempt to prevent the people’s loyalty from reverting to the house of David, Jeroboam deliberately introduced idol worship so that the people wouldn’t make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship at God’s temple. Spiritual and moral degeneration quickly followed. Spiritual degradation brought political instability with it. King after king fell through bloody revolution. The house of Jeroboam was toppled by that of Baasha which was destroyed in turn by the house of Zimri. The next dynasty was that of Omri which was succeeded by that of Joram who in turn fell to Jehu. Jonah’s ministry falls in the reign of Jehu’s great-grandson Jeroboam who was the second king to bear that name.
To the north of Israel was the kingdom of Syria. During the reigns of David and Solomon, Syria was under Israelite control. Before or during the reign of Ahab, the kings of Syria regained their independence. The kings of the Damascus area then began a series of wars and border raids against Israel. During the ministry of Elisha, Samaria, the capitol of Israel was besieged. Hazael, king of Syria and his son Ben-Hadad virtually made Jehoahaz a vassal. Jehoash however, was able to recapture Israelite towns from Ben-Hadad (2 Kings 13:25). As we have already seen, Jeroboam II was able to recapture most, if not all of Syria.
Israel and Syria did not quarrel in a vacuum. Though the Bible doesn’t give us much information about them, the Assyrians were a major factor in the history of the divided kingdom. Before Omri came to power, the Assyrians had already fought many of the battles that were to make them the most powerful force in Mesopotamia. “The merciless cruelty of his campaigns is the constant boast of Ashur-nasir-pal II: “I stormed the mountain peaks and took them. In the midst of the mighty mountain I slaughtered them, with their blood I dyed the mountain red like wool. With the rest of them I darkened the gullies and precipices of the mountains. I carried off their spoil and their possessions. The heads of the warriors I cut off, and I formed them into a pillar over against their city, their young men and their maidens I burned in the fire.”
“I built a pillar over against the city gate, and I flayed all the chief men who had revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins; some I walled up within the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes, and others I bound to stakes round about the pillar; many within the border of my own land I flayed, and I spread their skins upon the walls; and I cut off the limbs of the officers, of the royal officers who had rebelled.” (Light From the Ancient Past, The Archaeological Background of Judaism and Christianity, Jack Finegan, Princeton University Press, second printing, 1974, p. 202-203)
How does this relate to Jonah? “The ruthless Assyrian fighting machine which Ashur-nasir-pal II had developed was directed by his son… Shalmaneser III (858-824) in repeated campaigns against Syria and Palestine.” The annals of his sixth year includes a description of one of these battles. “Among the allied leaders who opposed Shalmaneser III, Hadadezer of Damascus is named first. Then Irhuleni of Hamath is mentioned, and in third place stands “Ahab, the Israelite.”
Another inscription preserves a fragment of the annals of Shalmaneser III, in which he also refers to the taking of tribute from Jehu, son of Omri…”
“Shalmaneser III liked to call himself “the mighty king, king of the universe, the king without a rival, the autocrat, the powerful one of the four regions of the world, who shatters the might of the princes of the whole world, who has smashed all of his foes like pots…” (Finegan, op cit., p.204-206)
The historical record sheds light on Jonah’s motive for trying to run away from the mission God sent him on. Knowing the character of the Assyrians, it would be reasonable to assume that Jonah would be afraid to go to Nineveh. After all, the Assyrians were bitter enemies of Israel. However, this is not the case. Jonah never shows any trace of fear. Why then did he run? He tells us himself in chapter 4:2. Jonah wanted the Assyrians to be destroyed. He says, “…wasn’t this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.” Jonah does not suffer from a problem with his nerves, but rather from a problem with attitude. From a human point of view is it any wonder, considering what the Assyrians had done to his own nation?
The response of Jonah to God’s command should cause us to look into our own hearts. Do I have the same compassion for other people as God does – even if they are the enemies of my country? Do I allow my patriotism to blind me to God’s plans? What excuse do I use for not doing what God has told me to do?